**this chapter is again inspired by and is dedicated to Double Agent DD. And I put Henry in this chapter by request. There is an infinitesimal bit of Henry/Natalie fluff, but not too much. They're only in 7th grade at this point of the story!**

**Still 3 years ago**

The 3:15 bell rang and Natalie ran out of her school bawling her eyes out. New year equals fresh start? Sure, if that mean that people would bully her worse than they did the year before! "I should've died," Natalie muttered.

"Natalie, wait up!" Henry yelled as he ran after her.

"What do you want?"

"I want to know what's wrong. I hate seeing you cry. It breaks my heart to see you sad."

"I'm always sad, Henry. Everyone in this whole fucking school hates me. Just get with the program!"

"I don't hate you."

Natalie looked at Henry with disbelief. "You don't?"

"That's right! Hey, how about I walk you home? You've had a rough day today. I can tell."

"How do I know you're not trying to stalk me? What if you're lying to me?"

Henry sighed. "I would never stalk you. I'll walk you home, and if I stalk you, then you have every right to kill me."

"Fair enough."

Henry walked Natalie to her house, which really wasn't that far away. As soon as they got to the front door, Henry began to walk away. "See ya, Natalie."

"No wait! Henry, why did you walk me home?"

"Well, in case anyone dared to bully you on the way home."

"Not like that's never happened before." Natalie's eyes filled with tears. "Why do they randomly decide to pick on me? What the hell did I do to them?"

Henry watched Natalie break into tears and, frankly, he didn't like that. So he suddenly hugged her and ran his hand through her hair. "You didn't do anything to them. The people that think that picking on you is okay are complete jerks. You shouldn't be treated this bad. Look on the bright side: we graduate from grade school next year, and, hopefully, all those mean people won't go to the same high school as you." He glanced at his watch. "I gotta go. My sister Emily is gonna be on my case again." He softly kissed Natalie on her cheek. "See ya."

Natalie looked at Henry, feeling surprised. Did he really just kiss her? "Oh… my… god…" She opened the door. "He is sort of cute, I guess. I wonder if he really is available…"

"Who's the guy, Nat?" Diana asked as she was looking out the window.

"Mom! Are you trying to tell me that you were watching me and Henry all this time?"

"Oh, Henry's his name?"

"Mom!"

"My baby girl has a boyfriend!"

"Shut up. I'm tired of being treated like a little kid. I'm almost 13!"

"But I thought you were my baby girl…"

"No. All you ever did was think about Gabe. I know you don't like me. You said so yourself, almost 10 years ago."

Natalie stomped away angrily and Diana watched Natalie in horror, feeling terrible. "Have I really treated her that bad?"